Josh Edgin, Mets’ Top Bullpen Lefty, Will Have Surgery and Miss Season

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Josh Edgin, who had a 1.32 earned run average in 47 appearances for the team last season, will have Tommy John surgery.CreditAlex Brandon/Associated Press

By Tim Rohan

March 15, 2015

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. — In the not-so-distant future, the Mets will probably be relying on several pitchers who have had Tommy John surgery.

Three of them are young starters: Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Steven Matz. The other two are relievers who have served as the Mets’ closer: Jenrry Mejia and Bobby Parnell.

On Sunday morning, another key Met announced that he would have the operation. Josh Edgin — the team’s top left-handed reliever, with a 1.32 earned run average in 47 appearances last season — said he would miss the 2015 season.

That puts the Mets in a bind. They would like to have at least one lefty in their bullpen, and none of the four other candidates have pitched particularly well this spring.

The team was also awaiting the results of a magnetic resonance imaging test on starting pitcher Zack Wheeler’s right elbow. Wheeler had told the Mets that his right elbow felt tender. He experienced something similar last season and pitched well afterward, but being cautious, the Mets had him skip a start and had his elbow examined again; as of Sunday afternoon, no announcement had been made about the results.

Edgin had taken a few days and sought a second opinion from Dr. James Andrews, an orthopedic surgeon, before deciding to have the operation.

Edgin’s case seemed somewhat unusual. His ligament was not simply torn. Doctors told him that he had a bone chip inside the ligament and that it was rubbing on his flexor tendon. A future injury to that tendon was likely, and it would have been more consequential than having Tommy John surgery now.

“In the greater scheme of things, this was the best option,” Edgin, 28, said.

He is expected to have the operation in the next few days, and he could possibly return by opening day next year. In the meantime, the Mets will look for a reliable left-handed replacement. The four candidates in their camp — Scott Rice, Sean Gilmartin, Dario Alvarez and Jack Leathersich — have a combined 10.93 E.R.A. this spring.

“We’ll continue to look at all options,” General Manager Sandy Alderson said. “We know what we have internally at this point. We’ll hope that those options improve over the next couple of weeks, become more attractive, and we’ll continue to look externally as well.”

As for Wheeler, it may be premature for the Mets to plan on not having him.

He said Saturday that he had experienced elbow tenderness throughout his career and had pitched through it. Even though the problem flared up last year, the Mets have said it did not affect how he was handled. Wheeler had two M.R.I. exams over the off-season, too, and both came back clean, the Mets have said.

Alderson characterized the soreness as a condition that the team simply had to monitor and manage, unless it intensified.

“We just have to see how the symptoms manifest themselves and whether they continue,” Alderson said. “If they continue at a low level, if they continue at a more intense level, that’s all part of the equation. But, you know, Zack’s a tough guy.”

If Wheeler misses more than one spring training start, Dillon Gee could slide into the rotation. The Mets tried trading Gee over the off-season, and when they came to camp with six starters, he was working as a reliever. Now he is scheduled to start on Thursday. But Alderson said the plan had nothing to do with Wheeler’s elbow — Gee just needed to throw more innings to prepare for the season.

“This possibility, or a possibility of something like it, is probably a reason we’ve been hesitant to trade pitching in general,” Alderson said. “This is what happens with pitching. You see guys going down all over the place. I think it’s why we’ve been hesitant to trade any of our pitching depth.”

A version of this article appears in print on , on Page D3 of the New York edition with the headline: Mets’ Top Bullpen Lefty Will Have Surgery and Miss Season. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe